Thought for the day...

Project management for FM

Overview

Facilities managers are regularly tasked with the delivery of significant projects for their organisations. These may range from the commissioning of new works, relocating staff to new accommodation, implementing new working methods or introducing environmental / sustainability programmes. To be successful the FM team needs to apply a structured approach appropriate to the scale of the task. This seminar sets out to demystify the project management process and equip the team with the basic tools to control and deliver projects in line with expectations.

Participants will be shown how to define a brief, assign responsibilities, produce a time plan, communicate and measure progress, troubleshoot, control documents and engender support. The expert trainer will take delegates through a typical facilities project and illustrate the application of a simple methodology. The course is presented by a leading FM consultant / trainer, to help ensure its total relevance to an FM audience.

Training objectives

This course sets out a straightforward approach to managing facilities projects in line with objectives, budgets and customer expectations which will help participants to:

Appreciate the need for formal project management

Understand the different elements of a project strategy

Assign responsibilities effectively

Develop and monitor a project plan

Know what to report and to whom

Ensure they involve all the key players

Deliver to time and budget

Achieve an effective hand-over

Gain confidence in management of projects and dealing with people and problems

Audience

This course is intended for all those involved in facilities management, whether in the public or the private sectors. Additionally, anyone – from whatever background – likely to be involved in a relocation project will also benefit from this course.

No prior knowledge of project management is required.

Format

A highly interactive one-day course, with workshops and informal breakout discussions a feature of every session, drawing on the experiences of participants and the issues they have to confront. Additionally, the course notes have been prepared as a real aid to inform, containing many checklists and example forms to assist participants in their workplace.

Special features

The supporting materials for this course can be supplied in either printed or electronic form and post-course support, whereby participants can call or email the trainer direct with any questions or concerns, can also be arranged.

The expert trainer

Graham is a very experienced and senior practitioner in the facilities management arena. A Fellow of the British Institute of Facilities Managers, he is a regular speaker on public training seminars and conferences and was a major contributor to the development of the BIFM training programme. He is a member of the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA), a regular contributor to a number of publications and a visiting lecturer to UCL, Reading University and the College of Estate Management. His practical experience was gained in the management of major building projects and later as the Head of Facilities of a national public sector organisation (where he was at the forefront of guiding the public sector in outsourcing services – including PFI – and was responsible for leading associated change management programmes), as a Group Board director of a major FM company, as Chairman of an FM consulting company and now as Director of an independent consultancy specialising in FM and PFI with clients such as Clearstream International DBG, Mitchells & Butlers and Stonemartin Corporate Centres.

He is an advocate of the need for managers to take the high ground and focus on strategy and planning, management of resources and the harnessing of data through information technology, in order to inform the decision making process. As a firm believer in developing intellectual capital through education, he has throughout his career introduced programmes of professional development for his various work teams.